The present invention relates to a method for the temporary storage of printed matter in which the stream is divided into generally straight, longitudinal sections, in which the sections are placed side-by-side in a storage space, and in which a stream of printed matter is re-created by joining sections together end-to-end.
The present invention also relates to apparatus for the temporary storage of printed matter.
The invention involves the features in which a stream of printed matter (newspapers) arriving, e.g., from a printing press in, e.g., an overlap configuration, are divided into, e.g., straight longitudinal sections, and in which the sections are disposed side-by-side in a storage space and a stream of printed matter is later re-created by joining together the ends of said sections. By printed matter is meant so-called wide-spread objects, such as newspapers, journals, magazines and the like. The invention is discussed hereinafter with reference to newspapers, although it will be understood that the inventive technique can be applied generally with wide-spread or surface-spread objects, normally rectangular objects, such as printed matter.
These features can be read from SE-B-468-354 which is also U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,618 to Sjogren, which discloses the so-called intermediate storage of a stream of newspapers in some kind of paternoster mechanism.
One advantage with the technique taught by SE-B-468-354 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,618 to Sjogren is that the relative distance or spacing of the newspapers in each section and their relative positions of rotation are not greatly influenced in the sections, since said sections are handled and stored in a flat, horizontal state. The stream of printed matter, newspapers, can be easily re-created, by joining together the ends of respective sections with the aid of an overlap. This re-created stream of printed matter can be moved directly in the same direction as that in which it arrived at the temporary storage rotation.
However, a serious drawback with the technique taught by SE-B-468-354 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,618 to Sjogren is that the temporary storage capacity is low in relation to the complexity of the apparatus and in relation to cost. Furthermore, it is necessary to store the sections in the apparatus, which is stationary in principle. The known technique is therefore less favourable when large volumes of newspapers shall be stored temporarily. Furthermore, the known technique lacks the possibility of transporting the temporarily stored newspapers after said newspapers have been taken into the temporary storage facility.
Consequently, when requiring to temporarily store large volumes of newspapers, there is used to age-old technique of rolling-up relatively long length sections of the newspaper stream on rolls in a helical configuration and subsequently re-creating the newspaper stream by first unreeling the section from the storage roller to a turning roller, from which the section is then unreeled in the xe2x80x9ccorrectxe2x80x9d state, i.e. in the same state as that in which the newspaper stream arrived at the storage roller as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,198 to Gerber.
One problem with this roll-up technique, however, is that it is normally necessary to use tightener belts for winding-up the newspaper stream on the core of the wind-up roll. It is also necessary to adjust the tension in the belts to the number of pages of the individual newspapers, and also with respect to the print, so as to avoid any wrinkling and smudging of the newspapers. Furthermore, the tension in the belts or straps must be reduced, which greatly reduces the newspaper storage capacity of the roll. Furthermore, the roll-up technique is encumbered with the drawback that capacity is dependent on whether or not the newspapers are symmetrical about their longitudinal centre axis in the stream. For instance, if the newspapers have a side fold that lies along one long edge of the stream/section, the roll will be built-up to a greater extent on one side thereof, therewith reducing the storage capacity of the roll.
Accordingly, one object to the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for the temporary storage of newspapers that combine the advantages afforded by the two concepts described above while avoiding at least one of their drawbacks.
This object is achieved with a method of temporarily storing a stream of printed matter in which the stream is divided into generally straight, longitudinal sections, in which the sections are placed side-by-side in a storage space, and in which a stream of printed matter is re-created by joining sections together end-to-end. The method comprises the steps of releasably connecting each section to a respective carrier such as to form a product unit, and releasing the connection between the unit sections and the carrier such as to re-create a newspaper stream.
This object is also achieved with apparatus according to an arrangement for the temporary storage of a stream of printed matter, including means for dividing the stream into generally straight, separate longitudinal sections, and a storage device for storing the sections in side-by-side relationship, and means for re-creating a stream by joining said sections end-to-end, means for releasably connection each section to a carrier to form a product unit in which the printed matter in the section is fixed relative to the carrier, and means for separating the sections from the carrier.
Embodiments of the invention are defined in the steps of connecting the carrier to one long edge of the section, storing the units with the sections hanging down from the carrier, storing the units with the sections upstanding on their respective carrier, orientating the printed matter in said section so that spines of the printed matter will be gripped by the carrier, and disposing the carriers in a storage device that forms the storage space.
Also, the storage device is transportable, the space is provided in a storage device in the form of a transportable cassette, the product units are placed in and removed from a storage device, the carrier includes a strip whose length is greater than the length of the section, such that said strip will have an end-part that projects beyond a respective end of the section, and in that the product unit is suspended with the end-parts resting on corresponding support means in the storage device. The storage space is formed by a storage device that has support legs for establishing the storage space above the surface on which the feet of the support legs rest, and in that the support legs are moved to one side when transporting an empty storage device, so as to reduce the space requirement of the empty cassette. The carrier includes one or more clips, and in that the generally flat newspaper section is moved laterally relative to the carrier such as to insert one long-edge of the section into the clip/clips with the clip/clips being held open, whereafter the clip/clips is/are closed so as to fix the section to the carrier; wherewith the section is released from the carrier by the reverse procedure.
The storage space is provided in a transportable storage cassette, which may contain a plurality of carriers. The carrier includes a strip that has one or more clip fasteners. The cassette has support legs which define a free unit-storage space between the surface against which the legs support and place of connection of the carriers with the cassette, and in that the support legs are movably mounted so as to enable the space required by an empty cassette to be reduced.
The cassettes include transport handling means, and the cassettes have mutually separate bearing surfaces for supporting carrier end-parts that project out beyond respective ends of the section.
A central feature of the invention requires each of the sections of the newspaper stream to be releasably connected to a carrier so as to form a product unit. The newspapers present in said section are therewith fixed to the carrier. The product unit can therefore be orientated freely, without losing the integrity of the section. This enables the units to be handled freely in conjunction with their storage and/or transportation. The carrier may, of course, have many different forms, although a particularly preferred embodiment is one in which the carrier has the form of a long straight strip which includes one or more clips or clamps by means of which said section can be connected to the strip. The carrier is preferably arranged so as to lie along one side edge of said section, with the clip/clips open and facing towards said side-edge, whereafter the strip and the section are displaced in parallel such as to move one long-edge part of said section to a position in the clip/clips, e.g. into contact with an abutment surface in the bottom region of the clips, whereafter the clips are closed. The clips may be of a self-closing type and kept open temporarily with the aid of an opening mechanism in conjunction with fitting the carrier to or removing the carrier from said section.
The section/carrier may have a length of about 2 m, which represents a relatively large number of newspapers.
The carrier may be provided with means, such as eyelets, shoulders, openings or the like, which facilitate gripping and handling and/or fastening of the carrier/the product unit, or which facilitates fastening of the carrier/product unit to and the release of said carrier/product unit from the apparatus that shall carry the product unit or a group of product units. It may be practical to handle the product unit while orientated in a vertical plane and with the longitudinal axis of the carrier/section in the horizontal plane and with said section hanging down from the carrier. When the carrier has a relatively small thickness, the product units can be placed close to one another.
Both ends of the carrier or strip may extend slightly beyond respective ends of the section, such as to allow the carrier to be rested on respective holding surfaces in a storage unit, a cassette. These holding surfaces may, of course, include grooves for receiving the ends of the strips, so as to ensure that a predetermined division is obtained between the units in the storage unit/cassette, said cassette being constructed to allow the newspaper section to hang freely down from said strip. The cassette may have support legs that are sufficiently long for this purpose. These legs may conveniently be retractable or collapsible, so as to reduce the space requirement of the cassettes when transported whilst empty. It will be understood that the cassettes are stackable and that the cassettes can be transported, e.g. when filled with said product units. The cassettes therewith have a very high product capacity. These cassettes, possibly stacked, can thus be transported with conventional transportation equipment, such as fork-lift trucks, containers, etc., to a completely different place, where further processing or treatment of the product units and the newspapers can take place. Upon completion of such further processing, a newspaper stream can be re-created by releasing a newspaper section from said carriers and placing said sections sequentially on a conveyor in a flat state, such as to form a newspaper stream. If desired, the newspaper sections can be joined together to form an essentially continuous stream.
The cassettes may, of course, be circulated through newspaper processing or treatment plants and ultimately arrive back at the place at which a stream of newspapers shall be received for temporary storage and to this end shall be divided into sections which are connected to one such carrier for easier handling, for instance introduced into a cassette for temporary storage and/or transportation and for possible processing or working of the newspapers of the product unit prior to re-creating a stream of such sections.
In the case of further embodiments, the carriers may, of course, be carried by a transporter that can be manoeuvred or driven to enable the newspaper sections to be readily connected to the carriers. For instance, the carriers can be transported by the transporter to the station at which the newspaper sections arrive and there connected to respective sections, such that a product unit will be moved out of the station as the next carrier and the next section arrive at said station.
The transporter may be comprised of a cassette in which a plurality of carriers are mounted in juxtaposed and parallel relationship, and preferably also mounted for pivotal movement about their longitudinal axes.
The product unit may, for example, be arranged to hang in a transporter, for instance a cassette, with respective sections hanging from a respective carrier which, in turn, is carried by the transporter/storage device.
Alternatively, the product units may be arranged to stand upright, with one long edge of a section being fixed to the carrier and said section extending obliquely upwards from the carrier and resting with its lower planar surface against the upper planar surface of a section in a similarly orientated adjacent product unit. When the newspapers in said section are orientated so that the xe2x80x9cspinesxe2x80x9d thereof are gripped by the carrier, certain advantages are afforded, for instance when the newspapers contain or shall be provided with newspaper supplements.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of and operation as more fully hereinafter described and construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.